Backyard Homestead: The Ultimate Homesteading Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Raising Chickens, and Mini-Farming for Self Sufficiency and Profit

By Dion Rosser

Are you tired of a fast-paced urban lifestyle but unsure how to change it? Have you thought about urban farming or building a backyard homestead but it never seemed possible in your set-up? Keep reading to learn that it is…

Do you know what you are eating? Many people are not aware of how many chemicals, additives, and hormones our food contains. Or even worse, they are aware but don't really have a choice or the time to think about it. Our lives are so busy and hectic that we eat just for the sake of eating, and not because food is the foundation of healthiness. So, you might wonder, how can this be changed?

You may have heard of homesteading but think it's the thing of the past, that you can do it only in the countryside. Quite the contrary! Homesteading is experiencing a surge in popularity in recent years, with more and more people looking to slow down their lifestyle, become more self-reliant, and produce organic food. And most importantly, you don't need to own acres of land!

This complete guide on homesteading will help you make wonders with even your little backyard!

Homesteading can seem too complicated, especially for complete beginners. Doing it from scratch can seem like a daunting challenge. This is definitely a serious project to get into, requiring a great deal of preparation and planning. But if you are determined to go back-to-basics, you can take baby steps starting today and turn your homesteading journey into an exciting experience.

This step-by-step guide will make you an expert homesteader in no time! Everything you need to know about suburban or urban micro-farming, raising animals, becoming self-reliant, etc. can be found in one place and explained simply and practically. It doesn't matter if you live in the heart of the city or off-the-grid, you can apply all instructions, tools, and techniques presented in this guide.

A long time ago, Abraham Lincoln said: "The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land". Today, his words still carry the same wisdom.

You probably have many questions about homesteading, and all of them will be answered, like:
- Why you should immediately start thinking about becoming a homesteader – health, experience, security, self-sufficiency…
- In-detail planning and organization instructions, from start to finish
- How to start your micro-farm on any yard size and layout
- All the tools you would need for homesteading – a complete list
- All the factors to take into consideration when choosing your seeds and cultivars for high-yielding crops
- How to select your chickens, build a coop, and take care of them
- How to modify your kitchen according to your new lifestyle
- How to adapt your garden to your climate and season
- How to store and preserve the fruits of your labor
- How you can ultimately make a profit out of your homestead

After reading this detailed guide, you can set off into this adventure of a lifetime without any worries. You will know all the ins-and-outs of homesteading and be prepared for any challenges that may arise. You can finally settle down into a more sustainable, productive, and fulfilling life.

Get this book and turn your dream of becoming a homesteader into reality!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dion Rosser
• Release date: Mar 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393337195

Book preview

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Introduction

Backyard Homestead introduces the principles of homesteading with hands-on methods that beginners can use right away. This complete guide walks you through all the great reasons to homestead, how to get started, what challenges you should plan for, and much more.

Don't miss the opportunity to learn about homesteading in an easy to understand and practical manner. These methods are fool-proof and have been used by households operating in a self-sufficient manner for decades or even centuries. Many people now remember that only a few generations ago most households relied on their own garden, raised chickens, and engaged within their community. This self-sufficiency is once again becoming a more normal situation. It doesn't matter if you have a small backyard or acres of property, you can get started with the basics and learn how to plan and develop your homestead as your skills develop even further.

Keep reading to discover how you can implement modern techniques to master age-old methods of cultivating your land and a lifestyle that fits your values.

Chapter 1: Reasons for Starting a Homestead

It doesn't matter if you've always had an interest in gardening or if changes in the economy and personal security have made you consider going back to homesteading. Anyone can homestead if they have a little property and a touch of patience. Okay, there are certain things you will need, but the most important thing to get you started is your reason you want to do it. With one good reason, you can drastically change the course of day-to-day happenings of your life.

One or more of these reasons may have spurred your interest in homesteading. Exploring the reasons you're interested in homesteading can help you set out your goals and plans before you jump right in.

Better Health

It's generally common knowledge that eating organic fruit and vegetables is better for your health. That belief leads most people to the conclusion that if they grew their own fruit and vegetables, it would be a better option than shopping in stores. There is some truth to homegrown fruit and vegetables having more health benefits, better nutrient density, and fewer additives. However, it's important to take a rational or scientific approach to the association between farming and health.

Let's roll through some quick facts that can help you determine if this is the right reason for you to start homesteading:

● Homegrown food does have more nutrients; vegetables and fruit begin to lose nutritional value within 24 hours of harvest, ergo, fresher food means more nutritional benefits.

● No presence of genetic modification – at this time there is no conclusive evidence that GMOs are harmful. However, they aren't natural and are likely not beneficial.

● No harmful pesticides, waxes, or other chemicals. You have control over unwanted additives to your food.

Along with homegrown fruit and vegetables, you can make better health choices through homesteading by raising chickens, goats, and cattle. Essentially what you're doing regarding your health is taking control over the processes applied to your food before it gets to your table. You don't have to worry about pesticides unless you're choosing which pesticides to use in your garden. Many homesteaders use only natural remedies such as vinegar or garden buddies – specific herbs that can drive out pests. This level of control can allow for a much healthier lifestyle.

For example, did you know there are at least twenty-one common fruits and vegetables, including avocados and apples, that are treated with wax before they arrive at grocery stores? When it comes to health, it goes without saying that organic is better. Homegrown is also better, as long as you take measures to ensure that health and safety are your priority.

Educational Experience

How much do you know about the food you buy? Do you know the life cycle of a plant? What about the incubation period for chicken eggs?

Homesteading leads you to ask questions that would never cross your mind. It makes you think about growth and development as a cycle rather than a journey with a destination. Many homesteaders cite the challenge or the educational experience as the reason for starting. Many others report they started homesteading because they had children and wanted to teach them the value of growing their own food and being self-sustaining.

If you're not sure about including the educational experience as part of your plan for making goals, consider the educational gaps that will become present as you start homesteading. Whether you want the education to be part of your experience or not, it will be necessary to have a successful garden and crop rotations. Most of our basic survival and living skills have been lost because of the massive development of our food product supply chain. On the part of economics, it's made tons of jobs and helped build a stable element in our day-to-day society. But when it comes to developing yourself as a person, it's evident that most of us lack the necessary skills to live independently.

Connection with Your Food

It's easy to go through a Jack-in-the-Box drive-through or order out from Slaters 50/50 and forget that your burger once had a face. Now there's nothing terribly wrong about eating meat. However, it is important to understand where your food comes from and what role it plays in your life. Many who include chickens or milking cows or goats in their homesteading plan find that they do connect with the animals. It can make dealing with the loss of an animal, or consumption, difficult to handle at certain times. That deeper connection to food can not only make you more appreciative of the contributions these animals make in our daily lives, but also the role of food waste in society. People who want to connect with their food better may also aspire to lead zero-waste lives or better manage their connection with the Earth and life around us.

Homesteading can drastically change how you view food and food sources, both financially and emotionally. Very few people use this reason as their primary decision-maker to start homesteading. And, of those people, you'll likely encounter more vegetarians or vegans as our modern lifestyles have disconnected us from the correlation between animals and meat.

No matter what your choice of diet, having a deeper connection with your food can change that relationship exponentially. Where you may once have taken for granted the overstocked shelves in a superstore, you suddenly begin to realize the lifecycles and planning that go into raising chickens or managing crop rotations. Even if this isn't your primary reason for homesteading, it's likely to be a byproduct of the homesteading experience.

Better At-Home Dining Experience

At-home dining is something that we can all enjoy. It's highly likely that you and most people you know can cook better food than that you normally experience when dining out. When you look at the most commonly frequented restaurant chains, including Texas Roadhouse and The Cheesecake Factory, most items on their menu are not made in-house. Rather they're prepared in a manufacturing facility, packaged, and then usually steamed-in-a-bag or fried on site.

But having said this, how can homesteading lead to better at-home dining? Three primary factors can affect your cooking and dining experiences at home.

First, fresh tomatoes, eggs, herbs, and everything else always taste better. Food grown or cultivated at home always tastes better. Honestly, it might be entirely psychological if it

Reviews for Backyard Homestead

[Ed Melendres · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is very timely considering the situation we are in today (Pandemic). A guidebook on how to be self-sufficient. I always dreamed of retiring and living in the countryside, growing and eating healthy food! Thank you for this valuable book!

[Christian Allen Jimenez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The information provided in the book comes not only from thorough research but also from actual experience. All necessary information about how to start backyard homesteading is here. It is recommended to read this book first for those planning to start their own backyard homestead.

[John Kenneth Vertido · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The amount of good information in this book was much appreciated. It gives you enough information about all of the topics to either win you over to homesteading

[Wonderweiss Roslo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've always lived in contact with farming and agriculture. And ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to plant and harvest my own veggies, and raise my own chickens. Now that I'm married, I wanted to have a greater involvement with that lifestyle I dreamed of as a kid.

[Harvey Woods · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This one is a good starting point for beginning homesteaders and/or gardeners. Great resource for homesteading. Some of the solutions are "ask a local" because everything can vary depending on where you live. Will defiantly need to refer to this book time and time again.

[Asriel Romulo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a handful of information that every suburbian moms should be able to learn.

The book comes in lovely embedded letters and comprehensibly written manuscripts. The thing about this book is that it can stand on its own; meaning it would help you grow, learn, produce, and cultivate something in your backyard without the need of further internet research because this will accurately teach you where and how to start. Fun fact about this guide is that it can even teach young girls and boys to grow something in their backyard—especially something for food source or a livelihood. This book is practical in ways that most schools doesn’t teach us so

[Hestia Selin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book but you must be financially stable or have a lot of cash if you want to start this kind of thing. If you don't have enough land to set, buy some land, and if you don't have some seeds to plant, buy some seed, lack of animals, cages, buy and build them. If you don't have enough food because the crops are not yet harvestable you need to buy them. This kind of thing is really hard to do and maintain this is what we call long term planning and maintenance. Raising some farm animals are not that easy because they must be properly feed, and maintenance. This book is only helpful for some tips nothing more nothing less. I recommend this book for casual reading only.

[Enmar David · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is perfect for those just setting out on their homesteading journey. Simply put, after reading you’ll understand ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’ and just enough to know in which direction to travel next. I felt this book helped me start asking the right questions and prompted me to do better research.

[Tolits Mendoza · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Packed with information. Its almost like a homesteading for dummies book. I bought the book specifically because of the gardening section. I do not raise live stock or have chickens (yet). But even if you do not have any poultry or livestock, it teaches you about how to care for them and how to give them a proper home in small acreage. I only live on about 1 acre. And it still makes me feel like i have plenty of space to utilize my home.

[Scotty Voltaire · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book for beginers who are just getting started with a little land and some farm animals. Also good resource for questions once they are home. Good information for people looking to be more self sufficient. Well written and informative. Definitely a helpful to keep on hand!

[Niebby Barez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Food is one of the basic needs to survive and to grow one in your home is the best idea. I think it's nice to learn about homesteading because it gives a glimpse of how important agriculture is. Often than not, people doesn't value what they have on their plates and maybe by having to understand the value of hardwork in growing your own food would change the perspective of some. Perhaps it would change the way I think as well. There's no need to worry if you are new to this kind of thing because it teaches the very basic of backyard homesteading from taking care of livestocks and plants then down to guiding you through the different ways on how to preserve your harvest. And know that hardwork truly pays off, literally, because this book will guide you on how to sell your goods!

Having to read this during pandemic, makes me want to give it a try. Truly inspiring and brilliant.

[Dhoy Fuyo Ehsoy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Living in the city makes me really stress as a husband and dad who have to provide for the family. The situation even worsen during this pandemic wherein I'm the one who have to go out and buy food for our small family. We tried growing plants at home but to no avail because they all rot. If it was soil or water factor, I don't know. Good thing I got to read this book. This gives me more knowledge on how to do it properly. The reasons for doing it are also stated in very encouraging way. Very helpful.

[Shey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book must be read especially now that we have pandemic we cannot all afford to buy vegetables. try to plant some vegetables it will help you to save some expenses. you can do it even in small yard. stay fit and safe.

[Antoniette Luarez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For a novice who is considering homesteading, this is easy to follow and an interesting book. This is informative; however, the author talks broadly about the matters that is why it feels off for me. Overall, this is a good book.

[Shiela Latag · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is fabulous and I've only scratched the surface reading it. Every page is informative and so helpful! I've been trying to plan a garden to feed our family for several weeks and I've been sifting through information from all across the web, but this has everything I need all in one easy to read place.
This book would also be amazing to have on hand in the event of a crisis.

[Kyla Labastida · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Backyard Homestead is really a big help to those persons that needs another source of foods or maybe a business income. Especially in this time of pandemic, many are affected by it so this would be the solution. Though it's not that easy to build but in this book it will guide you how to build it in a proper and in a good way. This book will give you an idea how to grow your own foods and farming. Then you can also make a profit from it. Thank you!

[Julius Brigades · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is thoughtful and really well written. I love these books for the ease of information given, the type and illustrations are stylish and cohesive throughout all the books, and the overall knowledge I've gained owning them. Thank you!

[Karl Angelo Gil · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This should absolutely be considered a primer to read if you're interested in homesteading and have never grown a plant before. It's very simple and conveys the importance of proper planning in a down-to-earth way that just about anyone should be able to relate to.

[Theodore Hurts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A well written book a compilation of knowledge from the first two book that I've read and explain it more deeply about raising your own poultry and starting your own farm. It also teach you how to manage your crops and product.

[Shiks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Backyard Homestead introduces the principles of homesteading with hands-on methods that beginners can use right away. However I found some issues regarding to this Backstard Homestead book such as grammar, punctuation, conciseness, and word choices. Try a simpler word that you should use a simple word over a complex word. Simple words are easier to read and let your readers focus on your ideas. Also avoid clichés that are phrases used so much they lose their original power. Try revising the meaning of this phrase using your own words. It will make a stronger impact on your reader. Though it is readable and helpful to households relied on their own garden, raised chickens, and engaged within their community.

[Marlon Devera Gumboc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you're planning to build a small business particulary a homestead at your backyard, this book will surely suits you. This will provide you a plan on how to transform your farm and start earning from it. If you dont have any plan yet, kindly read this book and it will lay you the important things to consider when planning a homestead. It will also help you in selecting the proper chickens and how to build a coop. Homestead business is not that easy to build since all you need to have is a perfect place like your backyard and a capital for starting up your business. And the rest will be provided by this material. This may help you so dont think twice and consider this one.

[Anne Watson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Who knew that homes can be as versatile than it seems with just open mindedness and creativity? The best is that, little did we know, we can make profit from it. Sounds interesting, right?


With the current events and crisis we are facing, especially with the demand and supply of our food, we became worrysome with what to eat and what to refuse to eat. Therefore, this book is an introduction to busting your doubts and worries, as it talks about the principles of homesteading, with easier methods that even beginners can easily understand. Powered with different studies that are actually fool-proof and are enhancing, the author, Rosser, matched his creativity and business-mindedness in order to come up with this list of instructions. Considering our situation today, the author has given enough tips and advice in order to encourage us with backyard homesteading. He discussed, in this book, the ways for us to allow you to grow your own fruits and vegetables and raise farm animals, including chickens and goats.

[Jefferson Baniqued De Guzman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has a lot of information and tips the book is so interesting enough, it would be a simple for a beginner to follow, this is a nice simple guide for a complete beginner.

[Revi James · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a realistic, down-to-earth values for the current generation, especially during these pandemic times. Though, I thought it was a little shallow for such a large topic. But nevertheless, the work covers a lot of details about planting and plants in general, poultry, dairy, drying, canning, food recipes, simple building designs, and so on. I've had a bit of an idea and it was validated here. It is still a well-thought-out knowledge pack for those interested beginners. Even if you just want some awesome gardening knowledge, this is a really practical manual.

[Ross Mari Galleto · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good read. The book gives me more reason to study more about homesteading especially now that I'm already a wife and a mom. It gives me more knowledge about the health benefits of growing your own foods. I think this will help a lot even those who are living in urban areas to try planting in small spaces and of course, those who have bigger lands to even start growing animals. It will surely be fun to get fresh veggies and cook them right away and to try milking a cow for your morning drinks. To think that we can even earn a profit (aside from lessening our market expenses) by homesteading!

[Marnie Bentulan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is amazing! I had my experience of backyard gardening during my school days, and we were taught the importance of agriculture and farming. Same goes with this book, it reminds us how important it is to know how healthy the food we consume and how to make profit from the fruits of our labor specially in this time of pandemic. If you are determined to learn and start gardening then, this book is the best for you! It will ultimately guide you how to start from scratch and make it even more exciting.

[Hiel Bibliophile · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have a few experience in growing plants and raising a chicken and it’s not new to me how important backyard homesteading is. This book is exceptional and informative. Although I have my share of knowledge, there’s still a lot to learn knowing backyard homestead alone is a broad topic and taking care of plants is not easy. The book is the best guide for basic gardening and how you make use of your excess lawn in your home. I have learned about the seasons of plants and how to cultivate it. What I like most of this book is it also gives you an option in selling goods fresh from your backyard.

If you need a hand in a comprehensive guide for backyard homestead, this is the right book!

[Vanessa Elnar · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, I was looking for a new approach or ideas to my smaller space in my backyard.
It somewhat hard for people with no green thumb so I was hoping to find a different activity and I wanted to try it for myself.
I like the concept about harvesting and food preservation.
Also, care and maintenance is important if you're aiming for a long-term goal. This book is recommended for beginners, too.

[Castañeda Del Rey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is incredibly good, I always thought that raising livestock and growing vegetables requires large area in order to sustain them. It surprised me to know that we can start homestead with just small area of land. The book also explained why we should start homestead. Not only it will save us a lot of money from buying meats and vegetables on the market that we don't even know where it comes from but also it will us ensure the quality of the food we eat since we ourselves raised them. This book also includes tips on how to plan the spaces you have in making your homestead and maintaining it. All in all I highly recommend this book to those who want to start homestead in their own, this book has everything you need to know as a beginner.

[Marlon Vallejos · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my second book that i've read this week about back yard farming and it greatly helped me put up my small piece of land for my farming, today I have set up my land that would be ready for farming and I was thinking to go organic without any chemicals and see to my self the advantages of doing it. Thank you for helping small scale farmers and kudos to the writer.